


A New Beginning

by Hatless_Hatter



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: AND I DONT EVEN REALLY KNOW WHO THEY ARE, And she's the main character of this fic, And there's a turian, But not those two, But there is love in here, F/M, I STILL DID THIS, I wrote it, She's a spy and kinda messed up, There is a shepard, There's a twin in this universe, and i love her, and it's okay, but hey, okay so, so maybe this isn't great
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 08:00:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11596371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hatless_Hatter/pseuds/Hatless_Hatter
Summary: She's a soldier with a certain set if skills on a mission for a vaguely defined goal. The goal is somehow, still a surprise.Her pilot is more than she seems, and the color blue has never been less comforting.





	A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This hasn't been touched in like, 1.5 years so might as well post it and see if anyone reads and comments.   
> First posting, so hopefully this isn't too ballsy an attempt.   
> Oh well. Leave me a comment if you want to tell me what you think.

A New Beginning

 

“Shepard, do you copy?” An anxious Janine Hallow whispered into the communicator, and Shepard could just imagine the adorable engineer hunched over her computers, balled up hands pressing against her mouth in anticipation of Raj'ja's response. 

Not willing to potentially reveal her location to any merc strolling along the hallway, Raj'ja Shepard tapped out a short response on her communicator, the beeps allowing Janine to relax. 

“Oh thank god,” Janine breathed, sending the layout of the blue suns outpost to Shepard's helmet. 

“I did not want to explain to Hackett how you died in an air duct. I'm marking your location on the map and where the objective is. I don't have access to patrol routes, so you're on your own on that front, but I'll tap into surveillance as you work towards the objective. Take it as slow as you need, but I don't need to tell you that time is a factor. Who knows how long they'll keep a turian captain alive.” 

Raj'ja rolled her eyes and crawled forward in the duct, one eye on the display in her helmet, one on the vent grate she was rapidly approaching. 

“The hallway's clear. There's another grate twenty meters to your left on the far side of the hall. Checking adjacent halls...” Raj'ja prepared her omni-tool, waiting for Janine to give the go-ahead. 

“Incoming hostiles,” Janine whispered, anxiety in her voice. Raj'ja silently backtracked down the duct, doing all she could to avoid being seen. Two turians sprinted past her position, assault rifles drawn. 

“Be ready to exit the duct.” Raj'ja returned to the grate, omni-tool prepared. 

“Go.” Janine ordered, confidence and experience in her tone. The engineer was probably flipping through every single vid feed checking for hostiles. Raj'ja exited the duct, reattached the vent, sped down the hall, removed the other vent, climbed inside, and reattached  the grate. 

“Good. This duct will take you into the objective room, but I have no idea how you plan on getting yourself out with the objective. I imagine it'll be incredible and terrifying to watch.” 

Raj'ja tapped out her answer, and thoughtful silence met her ear. 

“Boss...,” Janine sighed, adoration in her voice. 

“You are the best. I'll get right on that. You know what you have to do.” Janine lapsed into concentrated silence as she worked on her part of of the plan. 

Raj'ja Shepard crawled through the duct, very aware of how risky this haphazard plan was. Both Janine and Raj'ja could be captured or killed, but as long as the objective was complete, it would be worth it. Five minutes later, Raj'ja peered down into the holding cells, eyes on the target. 

“Is it as bad as I think it looks? I guess this turian isn't super popular with the Blue Suns. Ready, Boss?” Janine asked, excitement coloring her words. 

“Hold on,” Raj'ja whispered, confusion evident in her tone. The male turian was strapped to a chair, looked significantly worse for wear, and was unconscious.  

“Something's not right. Lock the doors. Give me a moment with this guy.” 

“Really, Boss? Okay. If you say so.” 

Raj'ja dropped out of the duct, landing silently on the floor with the help from her biotics, and made her way to the unconscious turian. Blue blood covered the poor guy's face and body, cuts and lacerations decorated his carapace and face, a mandible looked like someone had tried to rip it off. The family markings on his face were covered by blood, but still recognizable as white stripes along what would have been his cheekbones on a human. His brow plates were decorated in the same fashion, and he had a strong resemblance to...

“Torian!?” Raj'ja hissed, moving to gently cup the side of his face, trying to wake him up without hurting him. Blue blood rubbed off on her glove, and Raj'ja seriously hoped Torian could cope with all the damage he'd been dealt.

“Oh my god, Tori. You're alive! What happened to you?” The turian's mandible flicked, and an expression of pain flickered across the prisoner's face. Green eyes were seen through squinted lids, and his mouth fell open when he saw Raj'ja's N7 helmet.

“Al-liance?” He moaned, hope and fear in his tone.

“Yeah, Tori,” Raj'ja assured him, taking off her helmet so he could see her face. 

“You're going to be okay. Stay with me.” The turian looked so relieved to see her, his subvocals thrummed out agonized gratefulness. He pressed his head into Raj'ja's hand and desperately keened to her. Raj'ja gently shushed him, telling him he'd be alright even if she had to kill everyone between them and the exit. She removed his restraints and applied medigel to his wounds, and put her helmet back on, talking to Janine again. 

“You need a what?” Janine asked, anger in her voice. 

“I can't do that in five minutes!” 

“Shut up and listen. Torian and I are not going to be able to make it to the landing pad without you scattering the Mercs. I need you to do everything you can to give us a clear shot to the shuttle. I don't care if you blow up part of the building, just help us get out! Now I know you've hacked into more sophisticated systems before. That Alliance station on Earth comes to mind. Use your beautiful brain and get me a distraction.” A moment of silence met Raj'ja's words. 

“...Y-You know about the Alliance station?” 

“Janine!” Raj'ja commanded, getting angry. 

“Right! On it!” An alarm was triggered on the other side of the base, and on Janine's word, Raj'ja carried Torian into the hall, moving quickly on Janine's orders. 

“Stay with me, Tori. Come on.” Raj'ja urged her friend, arm vice-like around his waist. 

“Left!” Raj'ja ducked into the hallway as Blue Suns Mercs hurtled into the hallway, not seeing the injured turian being carried by the human soldier half a meter shorter than him.

“Go down the hall and take the third door on your right. That will take you to the roof. I'll pick you up there. I'm heading there now.” Raj'ja sprinted down the hall, fear for Tori becoming adrenaline. 

“We're almost on the roof. What's your ETA?” 

“Thirty seconds. Shields are up, get ready to board. I see you.” 

Raj'ja saw the blue Alliance shuttle come into view, and as it flew down to meet her, she swung Torian over her shoulders, enlarged her barrier to cover him, and sprinted to the just landing shuttle, which opened it's door to allow Raj'ja Shepard entrance. 

“Thank you, Janine. I owe you a drink. Or several. Dozen.” 

“You owe me a new omni-tool and several grenades. And a bottle of scotch would be nice. I'm not a field agent, you know.” 

“Do you know anything about turian physiology?”

“If you see blue: it's bad. That is about it. You know where the first aid kit is. I've radioed the nearest alliance outpost and they're expecting us. Should be twenty minutes. Can you keep him alive that long?”

“Can you stay alive for half an hour more, Tori?” Raj'ja asked her friend, checking his vitals on her omni-tool. He lay on the floor of the shuttle, shivering and allowing Raj'ja to apply medi-gel. 

“Anything for you.” Tori whispered, a shaking hand coming to rest on Raj'ja's cheek, his thumb rubbing her cheekbone, smearing some of his blood on her face. 

“S-sorry.” He apologized, trying to wipe the blood away, but only adding more to the sight of bright blue coloring her face. His face contorted into concentrated frustration as he tried to clean her face.

“It's okay,” Raj'ja sighed, smiling and rubbing medi-gel on Tori's forehead. 

“Hey. Stop. How are you feeling?” 

“I'm fine.” He certainly looked and sounded more lucid than he had in the cell. There was a certain quiver to his voice, but overall, he sounded better. 

“How long were you there?” 

“A few weeks, I think. I'm not sure. Depends on what day it is.” 

“Hold still. What did they want from you? Turian base locations? Blackwatch operation details?”

Janine whipped her head around at the mention of Blackwatch and saw Raj'ja and Tori sitting and laying on the floor of the shuttle bay, respectively. 

“They're Blue Suns mercenaries, Raj'ja. They wanted any information I had. I didn't tell them anything, of course. I am a professional.” He tried sounding like a bad ass, but his voice was so gruff from what was probably his agonized screams from when he was tortured. Raj'ja only felt sympathy for the soldier. 

“You're Blackwatch?” Janine interjected, watching Raj'ja care for Tori. 

“Wait... Torian... Torian Pauvus? The actual second in command of the turian Blackwatch? And you two know each other?” 

Raj'ja raised her eyebrows as the Alliance outpost contacted the shuttle, requesting identification. 

“This is Lieutenant Janine Hallow, resident badass engineer escorting Commander Raj'ja Shepard and a wounded blackwatch soldier. We, meaning me, request docking clearance and a medical team to treat out turian friend's injuries. How does that sound, docking patrol?” Laughter was heard on the other side of the comm channel before Janine was told to land in the fourth shuttle bay. 

“A medical team is waiting for you. You said they were blackwatch?” Janine looked at Raj'ja who tilted her head with a small smile. 

“Yeah. It's Torian Pauvus if you can believe that.” 

“Wait... Really? He's alive? You found him?” 

“Well... Shepard did. I just made sure they got out alive. I also fly the shuttle. It was a joint project, but one I didn't sign up for. I'm not trained for firefights.” She sounded rattled, and Raj'ja felt a rush of gratitude for her pilot. Janine was a snarky, rude, occasionally tactless alliance engineer, but she hadn't been trained for intense fire. It was thanks to Janine that Tori was alive. Or had been found in the first place. A new omni-tool, grenades, and several bottles of scotch would be hers soon, but now was not the time to not focus on flying.

“I'm well aware you signed up to be my pilot and my analyst and not my ground support, and as of now, I'm going to train you so you know how to not die in a firefight, but can you  _ please _ just land the shuttle so Torian Pauvus here, can get his wounds taken care of professionally?” Raj'ja hissed, snapping her fingers in front of Tori's eyes so he'd focus on her and not pass out. 

“I'm on it, Shepard. Chill. We're here.” The shuttle door opened and the medical crew took over for Raj'ja, who squeezed Tori's hand once more before he was taken to the med bay. She watched him go, carted away on a bed made for turians. Janine walked up next to her commander and wrapped an arm around Raj'ja's waist, pulling her friend close. 

“You didn't expect to see him alive again, did you?” Janine asked, her voice soft, reserved for the realization that, maybe, just maybe, Raj'ja was worried for her friend. 

“I was told he was dead.” Raj'ja responded, standing ramrod straight. She was still coming to grips with Torian being alive.

“His ship was attacked in the traverse. No survivors, and no suspects but pirates. I went to his memorial. His men knew me. We'd worked together on missions. They were good men.  _ He _ was a good man.”

Janine laid her head on Raj'ja's shoulder and sighed, looking down the hallway Torian had been taken. 

“You and him were close?” It wasn't really a question. Torian's men knew. There are few personal restrictions on turian ships, and the men had all been curious about the tiny human soldier who had saved their commanding officer from a pack of vorcha and krogan. A few months passed, a half dozen lengthy missions, and several sparring sessions where neither party let themselves fall, and the tension between them was almost  _ visible.  _ They'd been pushed together by the crew, who  _ couldn't stand it anymore _ . They hadn't intended on doing anything after the first time, but there was no denying it. They were in love. Competitively. Two years passed, dozens of successful deployments where they both lead and followed, and the one time Raj'ja wasn't on the ship, he was lost.  

“Yeah... we always talked about... stuff...” Raj'ja stated distractedly, not listening to herself. 

“Stuff?” Janine asked, stifling a laugh. 

“Staying together. Getting married. Making it official. Whatever you call it. That.” Shepard blushed furiously. 

“Think you'll get another chance? You sister married Garrus Vakarian, right? What's stopping you?”

“Its been a while.”

“Everyone thought he was dead.” Janine pointed out. 

“Not that. Entirely. I don't...”

“Love him anymore?”

“No, I do. I love him very much.”

“So what's the problem?”

Raj'ja didn't answer. 

“He still likes you. Even I can see that. Are you worried you'll mess it up somehow?”

“...yes...” 

“Go to the damn med bay, Shepard. Let him know you weren't a hallucination. Tell him you love him.” 

“...but...”

“Let you guys have a new beginning. Figure out what you both want. Right now, I imagine he wants to see you. Start there and be brave.” 


End file.
